She’s had to move from
Edinburgh to Highgate, London, with her parents. She’s left her friends –
and her entire life – behind. She has to start at a new school and, worst
of all, now she’s stuck in a creepy old dump of a house which doesn’t even have
proper mobile phone reception.

Ravenwood is a prestigious
academy for gifted (financially or academically) students – and the only place
her parents could find her on incredibly short notice. So she’s stuck
with the super-rich, and the super-smart… and trying to fit in is more than
tough. It’s intimidating and isolating, even when she finds a friend in
the conspiracy-theorist Caro Jackson – and perhaps finds something more than
friendship in the gorgeous, mysterious Gabriel Swift.

But there’s more going on at
Ravenwood than meets the eye. Practical jokes on new students are normal,
but when Gabriel saves her from… something… in Highgate Cemetery, and then she
discovers that a murder took place just yards away from where she had been
standing, April has to wonder if something more sinister is going on.

…and whether or not she’s going
to live through it…

Review:

April
Dunne has been dragged from her home in Edinburgh and her friends. Unsurprisingly,
she isn't happy. The fact that she's been enrolled in Ravenwood School,
or academy for the wealthy and brainy, just makes everything worse. And
then... Pupils start turning up dead, murdered, and her father has some
weird conspiracy theory. It involves murders past and the paranormal.
Something is going on. Something iffy. And with a beautiful,
mysterious boy constantly telling her to "get
out" and get new best friend thinking the school is controlled by
supernatural nasties, April doesn't think that school could get any weirder.
Only... it turns dangerous instead...

I
love paranormal books. I love murder mystery books. Ergo, I lovedBy Midnight. It had all the awesome paranormal stuff a girl
could want, with the most amazing conspiracy theory-slash-mystery on top of
that. It was literally awesome with extra awesomesauce. It was so
brilliantly gothic and addictive and twisty. The moment I finished By Midnight, I instantly needed the next in the series. I needed to know what would happen
next. It was just so much fun – and so brilliantly original! I
loved it!

I
absolutely loved all the characters – especially April: she was just someone I
instantly liked. She was funny, in a kinda wry, snarky way, but she was
also stubborn and practical: she was always rationalizing and weighing
everything. I found her hilarious, with loads of personality and
strength. Plus, I love that she’s the “unofficial
Nancy Drew of the underworld” and found her reaction to the whole
supernatural news utterly believable and wonderfully refreshing. I also
loved her new friend Caro – she’s sweet, snarky and a total conspiracy theory
addict, as well as being completely bonkers and so wonderfully crazy. I
loved how she got completely outraged at being considered “fairy harmless” and just found Caro overall hilarious – she was so
brilliantly wacky! Gabriel was one of those “unattainable” types and for ages my question was: “Who is he?!” Well, he was cute
and rather romantic and sweet and brave and perfect... I may have liked him.
Just a little… And his relationship with April… oh, I loved it. It
felt really real and I can’t wait to see where it all goes next…

There
were loads of other minor characters that really stood out. I found
April’s family intriguing and especially loved her relationship with her
father. Her strong friendship with her Scotland-based best friend Fiona
was also really sweet. The Faces were all evil, two faced witches (Caro
talkin’, honest) and I found their interactions with everyone intriguing, even
though I hated them. I loved Caro’s best friend Simon, who was a bit of a
diva and a total evil genius. Yeah, they were all just amazingly created
– all really alive and jump-off-the-page.

I
adored the writing: it was third person, concentrating of April, and was fast
paced, full of mysteries and was just really beautifully written. It was
simply, effective, powerful, and oh-so addictive. And the plot –
ohmigod! It was amazing! I loved the conspiracy theory, mystery and
cold case angle: that, tied up with the paranormal aspect, made for a killer
book. No pun intended. And it was just so amazingly twisty – I was
never bored: never! It had more twists than… Um, a really twisty
thing. Plus, that prologue: God! Talk about hooking!

And
the supernatural, myth aspect was awesome!
Like, so totally epic and unlike anything I’ve read before ever. I just
loved it all so much! And I loved all the twists the myths had – I never
knew what was going to be revealed next! It was so cool!

Ok,
so there were some parallels to two big cult-classics – one book, one show
(those who have read this might know what I’m talking about), but By Midnight was just so different
it was untrue. It was new. It was fresh. It was
exciting. It is one of my new obsessions. I can’t wait for the
second in the series! I mean, paranormal with a mystery and murder thrown
in. Does it get any better? No. It doesn’t. Ever.

Because By Midnight? It had secrets,
murders and vampires – oh my!

Sorry.
Couldn’t resist it. You should all really read this book though. It
is literally the coolest, bestest conspiracy book EVER!

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About Me

Hello, my name's Megan, and I'm a Book Addict.
I love teenage Dark Romances, classical novels and anything that involves vampires, werewolves or anything even remotely related to the supernatural.
I also blog at The Girls Of YA with my wonderful blogging partner Emma from Never Judge A Book By Its Cover!